Old Mentz Heritage Center

The Old Mentz Heritage Center is the historical society for the towns of Mentz and Montezuma, and the village of Port Byron, NY

MENTZ CHURCH TURNS 200

The month of May is National Preservation Month and 2025 marked a period to acknowledge its importance in American and local history. 2025 also was marked in time by the completion of Erie Canal and development of patriotism following the Revolutionary War and the...
Canal Damage Awards and the Family Genealogist

Canal Damage Awards and the Family Genealogist

This kind of fits with our yearlong look at all things canals, I hope. In past articles, I have written about how the route of the Erie Canal was changed in the village of Port Byron in 1857/58 during the canal enlargement of 1836-1862. For the village businesses that...

The New Family Project Website

The Old Mentz Heritage Center Family Project has been created by merging previously existing projects from the Montezuma Historical Society and Lock 52 Historical Society who merged in 2024. Because these projects were created on different platforms, merging them...

Researching the Family Tree

Are you setting out on your journey to climb your family tree? If you live down the street or on the other side of the world, there are many resources to help you find your ancestors. Here are some of our favorite places to look. And, although our focus is on local...

Our New ErieCanal2025 Book

The year of 2025 is the bicentennial of the opening of the full canal on October 26, 1825. However, for us here in Cayuga County, the canal had opened in 1820 when the 98 miles of canal between Utica and Montezuma had opened for business in the spring of 1820. To help...